From one of the masters of twentieth-century cinema comes this indispensable and entertaining guide to a visionary new form of moviemaking.

So convinced is Francis Ford Coppola that "live cinema" will become a powerful medium within the larger film industry that he has crafted this instructional book, filled with lively anecdotes and invaluable lessons¯a boon for moviegoers, film students, and teachers alike. As digital moviemaking, like live sports, can now be performed by one director or by a collaborative team working across the Internet, it is only a matter of time before "cinema auteurs" will create "live" movies of the highest creative quality that will be sent instantly via satellite to be viewed in faraway theaters. Whether recounting his own boyhood obsession with film, tracing the origins of "live cinema" through a history of early film and live 1950s television shows, or presenting state-of-the-art techniques on everything from rehearsals to equipment, Coppola demonstrates that the spontaneity of this genre of "live cinema" will transport filmmaking into a new era of creativity previously unimaginable.
20 illustrations